He is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark she is simply Ophelia If you think you know their story, think again.In this reimagining of Shakespeare s famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen s most trusted lady in waiting Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learnsHe is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark she is simply Ophelia If you think you know their story, think again.In this reimagining of Shakespeare s famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen s most trusted lady in waiting Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learns the ways of power in a court where nothing is as it seems When she catches the attention of the captivating, dark haired Prince Hamlet, their love blossoms in secret But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and Ophelia s happiness is shattered Ultimately, she must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life In desperation, Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever with one very dangerous secret.Lisa Klein s Ophelia tells the story of a young woman falling in love, searching for her place in the world, and finding the strength to survive Sharp and literary, dark and romantic, this dramatic story holds readers in its grip until the final, heartrending scene.

Title: Ophelia

Author: Lisa M. Klein

ISBN: 9781582348018

Page: 351

Format: Hardcover

Comments

Okay so I think my star rating needs some explaining. I loved Part 1 and most of Part 2. If the book had stopped there I would have given this 3-4 stars. Probably 4. But now, the book continues for another 100 pages of the most boring rambling "Finding God" story arch which doesn't so much arch as drivels along in a slow straight line.I thought the whole last third of the book was so bad, the entire story gets 1 star.I had to skim through most of the ending because it was so boring. Ophelia didn [...]

”I had wanted to be the author of my tale, not merely a player in Hamlet’s drama or a pawn in the court’s deadly game. But what had I gained instead?”Synopsis: ‘Do you know how hard it’s been to be labeled insane for over 400 years?’, cries Hamlet to any disparaging soul willing to listen.‘Hold my beer,’ mutters Ophelia.Biblio-BabbleFeminist Shakespeare for the Win: Despite the archaic times he lived in, Shakespeare’s female characters, especially in his comedies, were known [...]

I realize the author mostly wrote this for herself, intrigued with the idea that there might have been more to Hamlet than meets the eye. It's an interesting concept to think Ophelia might have been faking her insanity and even her death, but I didn't like what the author did with it.Of course, as with many modern novels set in olden times, the author felt the need to drive home the point that Ophelia was a tomboy. I guess many female authors put this trait to their girl characters thinking it'l [...]

To be completely honest, I'm perplexed as to why people were unimpressed. Shakespeare is hard to do, and I think for what it was, she did an amazing job. No, it wasn't perfect. But I think that even attempting a project like this is ambitious, and I think she kind of nailed it, to be frank.It was sculpted wonderfully, had many different emotions coursing through the pages, and left you thinking by the end. Those are three very positive things, and I was impressed. It may have been short, but the [...]

I think this idea is fabulous. I played Hamlet, myself, in an all-female production and was really interested in hearing different ideas about what went on between Ophelia and Hamlet as my Ophelia and I played with those ideas on stage. A look into Ophelia's mentality throughout the process of the play also interested me greatly.That said, I think this book is terrible. The author's patching bits of the original, Shakespearean text into scenes that aren't in the play and then using dialogue that [...]

I love this book. William Shakespeare out does himself in this love tale gone tragic. Ophelia a motherless girl who finds herself soon living in the castle ruled by Queen Gertrude. She works for her as a honorable lady and soon meets Hamlet and they fall in love. They have to keep their love in secret because Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark and Ophelia is working for the queen and is not of power. The Queen was nice and caring of Ophelia and did not want to disappoint her. The love between Ophel [...]

Seriously, this is Hamlet fanfic, with Ophelia/Horatio as the OTP.I can't help but compare this (unfavorably) to Ursula K. LeGuin's Lavinia. Both examine a famous male-dominated text from the perspective of the extremely marginalized love interest. But LeGuin brilliantly turns the story on its head. Her Lavinia has a strong enough voice of her own to really bring a new perspective to the Aeneid. I felt like the original gained new depths as a result. Ophelia, on the other hand, is a pale shadow [...]

At first this book made me really mad. But I don't think you should snub this book completely. If you call yourself a Shakespeare connoisseur, then you should just take this as it is and enjoy it.There have got to be a million different retellings of Hamlet. Different interpretations especially on film, whether its the straight Shakespearean story or something like the Tale of Edgar Sawtelle. I decided ultimately to enjoy this as a retelling. Lisa Klein knows she is not Shakespeare. I was glad t [...]

2.5 starshere is my essential question: do i love metafiction or do i hate it? i really don't know and this book isn't helping me deciderst off, i was sort ofmiffed the premise. i am a die-hard hamlet fan (by which i mean i love shakespeare's play, not that i'm about to get a poisoned rapier and go to town). furthermore, i LOVE ophelia. and i don't think shakespeare does her any unnecessary disservice. there i said it. lisa klein's whole premise in writing this story is that she, too, claims to [...]

You get sucked in instantaneously to this cunning and devilishly smart novel called OPHELIA. The main character, Ophelia, is headstrong, determined, and lovestruck. When the wonderful and beautiful Hamlet enters her life, Ophelia is hypnotized.Even though he is a prince and she is the Queens lowest lady-in-waiting, the two stop at nothing to be together. When Hamlet's father is poisoned, the Queen becomes very grief stricken, going to Ophelia for support and a welcome ear. Then the notorious Kin [...]

I read this book about two years ago. It was before I had read the actual "Hamlet". I'd heard snippets of the play, but not the entire summary. This novel made an impact on how I read the play. For the next couple of years since I read this book, I've kind of viewed Ophelia as intelligent and trying to hold her ground in her topsy-turvy world rather than as insane and overly vulnerable. This novel is really worth cracking open and reading.

I won't rehash my love of all things Shakespeare and the particular love i have for his play Hamlet here (although my reading of the particular young adult novel Ophelia by Lisa Klein did prompt a viewing of all six of my various Hamlet dvds for their sundry interpretations~it is always better to view performances than just to read over the text and i felt it all needed slight refreshing so i pulled i started by rereading the text itself then decided to pull out all five of my Hamlet dvds and wa [...]

I chanced upon this book in the library a few years ago. And I'm glad I picked it up because, surprisingly, this is the book that inspired me to read classic literature, of which I am now a huge fan.This is a YA work, but it's the one of the best titles I've ever read. It is a retelling of the play "Hamlet" by Shakespeare. I used to hate Shakespeare, but this story was so intriguing that I had to go back to the original and read it again. Because of Ophelia, I saw the greatness of Shakespeare fr [...]

As a feminist and as a lover of Shakespeare, i was simultaneously vastly excited and rather apprehensive to crack open this book. Sure, i've always wanted to know what Ophelia's real story was, but to tackle a reinterpretation of what is arguably Shakespeare's greatest work is, well, ambitious. But i knew that if it were done well, this book would make its way onto my "favorites" shelf in between the Sonnets and Rosencrantz & Guildernstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard.It definitely made its way [...]

Hamlet is my favorite Shakespearean tragedy, hands down, so when I saw this I was intrigued. I enjoyed the first 3/4 of it, and hated the end. I loved hearing Ophelia's point of view on the courtship and romance, and thought it interesting some of the liberties Klein took. What was particularly interesting to me was how big of a role the herbs and flowers took in this retelling. I supposed because I'm lazy I never took the time to look up what each of the flowers and herbs were used for that Oph [...]

I really wanted to like this book, since Hamlet is my favorite tragedy by Shakespeare and I love how ambiguous Ophelia's character is. But I just couldn't get into it--although the detail is amazing and the writing is poetic, the plot seems to slog along. **SPOILERS AHEAD** Her relationship with Hamlet is crafted well at the beginning, but takes an unrealistic turn as soon as the familiar events of the play begin. Her complete rejection of Hamlet (after the two had AGREED to put on a false show [...]

IF you are familiar with the original version which is written by Shakespeare and it's original Title is "HAMLET" then i recommend you this book.The original were all about vengeance and This book is about lies and betrayal and also vengeance. IF the original were all about hamlet who is the original protagonist then this book is the opposite. It foretell about Hamlet's Lover who became his wife in this story Ophelia. And of course it goes to the real flow of the story but the only different is [...]

I learned that I definitely have a different idea of what Ophelia's fate should have been! Very well written but not enough interaction between Hamlet and Ophelia to justify the deep love the author wanted us to believe that they had for one another. The research the author did on herbs and medicine during that era was quite extensive and interesting.

Klein took on a pretty steep challenge in re-writing what many would consider to be the greatest piece of literature in the English language, and I'm not sure the results are satisfactory. Yes, the story of Hamlet has been retold many times from Strange Brew to The Lion King to The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, but it is another thing to go right into the original and try to retell it from another point of view. I'll tell you right now, this is no Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. That compariso [...]

Seriously wanted to hit Hamlet & Ophelia over the head.Follows original plot well with additional twist at end.Not really sure I liked Ophelia very muchI have to start by telling you that I absolutely hate the story of Hamlet, hate with a capital H. Want to know why? Everyone dies, there are no redeeming qualities at all *sigh*. I had high hopes that this book would change my mind. Unfortunately, it didn’t for the most part I wanted to hit Hamlet and Ophelia over the head. I think that the [...]

In this Ophelia-centric retelling of Hamlet, our heroine fakes madness and death, matches wits with the prince, and takes the reins of her story into her own hands. This is Ophelia's tale now — Hamlet's just playing a role in it.When Ophelia first lays eyes on Prince Hamlet, she's a scrappy little tomboy in her brother Laertes' shadow. Years later, she's a lady-in-waiting who feels trapped by the conventions of Elsinore — specifically the ones that require her and Hamlet to keep their love a [...]

Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, is practically required reading for every English student. But how much is really known about Ophelia, Hamlet’s “girl,” who goes mad and commits suicide in the original play?Lisa Klein offers us a different perspective on the undeveloped Shakespearean character. Ophelia is a strong-willed and beautiful young woman living in the often treacherous world of court intrigue. For the most part shunned and used by her father and brother, the once tomboyish and wil [...]

Ophelia is one of those books that flips a classic, in this case Hamlet, and shows someone else's point of view, in this case well, obviously Ophelia. It's an interesting take? At least? It sounds to me kinda like Klein read those scholarly ideas that Ophelia was pregnant when she died and ran with them. But I am ahead of myself.Ophelia begins with our titular heroine remembering her childhood as a motherless girl tagging along with the boys while her father schemes to get ahead. Eventually he s [...]

I had such mixed feelings about this book. I loved it and hated it at the same time. Like the author, I was never satisfied with the character Ophelia and the place she has in literature. I always thought that there was more to her than Shakespeare lets on. She always seemed such a mystery to me. In that sense, I loved how Lisa Klein took the frame of Shakespeare's play and filled in the details of Ophelia. I thought that the story she made for Ophelia was believable and it fit very well with th [...]

The Little BookwormIn Hamlet, Ophelia is a strange creature. Seemingly in love with Hamlet and driven to madness by the death of her father at Hamlet's hands, she is suddenly gone from the story. But what is the true story of Ophelia's madness and how deep did her feeling for Lord Hamlet go? Ophelia explores her background and the true story of Ophelia's love affair with the Danish prince.Ophelia is one of my favorite Shakespearean characters. I've always been fascinated by her. When I was in 12 [...]

When I first read the summary I was impatient to read this. Why? I have no clue. I've never read Hamlet before, and I only knew the basic outline of the story: Hamlet is a prince, his father is killed. Mom remarries guy who kills him, Hamlet see ghost of dad, ghost tells him to get revenge, hamlet goes crazy with revenge. But something about this book made me rush out to barns and noble and buy it. I honestly hate this book for about 70% of it. It wasn't that I couldn't get into it, but it was t [...]

3.5Okay, first of all, I love this cover. Granted, getting a snapshot of a girl and putting a title on it isn't that unique, but it's something about the model, and her hair, and the look of alarm and seriousness on her face. I kept on pausing to look at it while I read.I recently had a bad experience with A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont, which distressed me on two levels: A) Its copy-and-paste of scenes from Jane Eyre and B) Horrific reading of this beloved classic. Mont ought to take a look [...]

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Ophelia By Lisa M. KleinHe is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark she is simply Ophelia If you think you know their story, think again.In this reimagining of Shakespeare s famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen s most trusted lady in waiting Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learnsHe is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark she is simply Ophelia If you think you know their story, think again.In this reimagining of Shakespeare s famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen s most trusted lady in waiting Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learns the ways of power in a court where nothing is as it seems When she catches the attention of the captivating, dark haired Prince Hamlet, their love blossoms in secret But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and Ophelia s happiness is shattered Ultimately, she must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life In desperation, Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever with one very dangerous secret.Lisa Klein s Ophelia tells the story of a young woman falling in love, searching for her place in the world, and finding the strength to survive Sharp and literary, dark and romantic, this dramatic story holds readers in its grip until the final, heartrending scene.